Spray gun assembly



Jan. 27, c. H. LlNN SPRAY GUN ASSEMBLY Filed Nov. 20. 1967 INVENTOR= CARL H. LlNN United States Patent US. Cl. 222-82 7 Claims ABSTRACT OF THE DISCLOSURE A spray gun assembly comprising a spray gun having an inlet for liquid to be sprayed, an elongated tube extending downwardly from the gun for insertion into liquid, means attaching the tube to the gun at said inlet, clamping means attached to said tube and having a section extending downwardly for engaging an outer wall of a container at a time when the tube is inserted through a hole in the upper wall of the container, means attached to the tube and pressing against the inner side of an outer wall of the container at times when said clamping section presses against the outer wall of the container to secure the container to the tube and gun.

COMPARISON WITH THE PRIOR ART In the prior art, devices for attaching spray guns to containers have usually involved many separate small steps of manipulation whereby attachment is very slow. In some uses, the contents of a container are quickly exhausted and the labor cost of taking an empty can off a spray gun and putting a new one on is a nuisance.

Therefore, it is an object of this invention to provide a spray gun assembly so designed that as the tube thereof is pushed downwardly through the top of a can, the assembly will clamp against an outer wall of the can firmly and without other manipulation beyond the simple pushing downward of the assembly onto the can in one continuous motion.

A further object is to provide an assembly as described which is provided with spear means for puncturing the top of a can and engaging the edges of the puncture for further holding the can to the spray gun assembly, edges of the spear preferably engaging an inner wall of the container with a pressure to still further secure the container to the gun.

A further object is to provide the assembly with means surrounding a hole formed in the top of the can by the tube and tending to enclose a space around the tube to contain any liquid that might come up through the hole.

SUMMARY OF THE INVENTION A spray gun assembly comprising a spray gun having an elongated downwardly extending tube means having a tube provided with an open lower end of insertion into liquid, annular attaching means attaching the upper end of the tube to the gun, the annular attaching means also interconnecting the interior of the tube with the gun inlet, a clamp arm having a first section attached to the annular attaching means and extending transversely of the tube, the clamp arm having a second section connected to the first section and extending downwardly therefrom, the second section being spaced from the tube during use with the upright outer wall of a container therebetween, a part of the tube means being disposed close the inner clamp arm section for pressing against the inner side of an outer wall of a container at times when the second section presses against the outer wall of the container to secure the container to the tube and gun, the tube having its lower end offset away from its upper end in a direction away from the second section of the clamp arm, so

3,491,917 Patented Jan. 27, 1970 as to define a spray gun assembly in which it is possible for the spray gun handle and also the spray gun trigger to be disposed as close as possible to the adjacent side wall of the container and to accomplish with a minimum size and quantity of parts the possibility of evacuating fluid from the opposite side of the container from that side which the upper end of the tube is against.

Downwardly extending spear means attached to the annular attaching means are provided and adapted to spear through the upper side of a container and to be maintained with their uppermost ends at a distance from the container by the engagement of the first sections of said clamp arm with the bead around the upper edge of the container, whereby the two spears form boundary walls of a sealed area, bounded also by that portion of the bead that is disposed therebetween, bounded also by a downwardly extending wall means from the opposite side of the spears from the bead side thereof in order to enclose an area around the hole made by the tube to contain liquid which leaks out through the hole.

Both sides of the spears which are disposed adjacent the inner side of that wall portion of the container which is engaged by said clamp arm being disposed in engagement with the adjacent inner side of the adjacent sidewall of the container for facilitating the gripping of the respective sidewall of the container between the spears and the clamp arms.

In the drawings:

FIGURE 1 is a side elevation of the spray gun assembly of this invention with parts of the assembly broken away and other parts illustrated in section.

FIGURE 2 is a sectional view taken along the line 2-2 of FIGURE 1.

FIGURE 3 is an enlarged detail showing the can-gripping area of the assembly with a portion of the can being broken away as shown in FIGURE 1.

Referring to FIGURE 1, the spray gun assembly of this invention is there generally indicated at 10 and comprises a spray gun 12 of a type having an inlet for liquid to be sprayed and an outlet means 20 for the liquid, the liquid being sprayed out the outlet means 20 by the force of air which enters the gun through an air inlet 24 which is connected to a source of supply of air under pressure, not shown. The gun 12 has a handle 30 which is disposed downwardly extending at a time when the container or can generally indicated at 40 has its sidewall 42 extending downwardly and as later described.

Spray gun 12 is controlled by a trigger 32 and has a threaded inlet fitting 40 to which the rotatable connection assembly 50 having an internally threaded upper portion 52 is attached with its threads meshing with threads of the inlet fitting 40.

The connection assembly 50 can be made in any one of many ways and it is to be understood that this invention is not limited to any certain connection assembly, the connection assembly 50 shown being only by way of illustration.

A portion 54 of the connection assembly is attached to the upper portion 52 and rotates therewith and rotates with respect to a lower portion 56, which latter is suitably secured to a first section 60 of a clamp arm 62.

On the underside of the first clamp arm section 60 a tube 70 is attached, as best seen in FIGURE 2, in which a portion of adjacent parts is broken away so that the attachment of the tube can be illustrated at 68.

The interior of the tube is hollow as indicated at 74 in FIGURE 2 and at in FIGURE 1.

Referring to FIGURE 2, the hollow interior of the tube 70 is disposed in communication with an aperture 84 which extends through the first section 60 of the clamp arm 62 and, as best seen in FIGURE 1, it will be seen that the lowermost part 56 of the annular attaching means 50 is also hollow and annular as also are the parts 52 and 54 thereof, whereby fiuid from the lower end of the container or can 40 can pass upwardly through the tube 70 and through the annular attaching means 50 and through the inlet fitting 40 of the gun 12.

A second section 90 of the clamp arm 62 is attached to the first section 60 thereof, and the second section 90 extends downwardly from the first clamp arm section 60 and the majority of its length is a straight portion 92 which is parallel to and which touches the vertical sidewall 42 of the can 40 as shown in FIGURE 3. However, in FIGURE 1, the portion '92 of the second arm section 90 is not shown in contact with the sidewall of the can 40, but will be found to serve a very useful purpose by being in very close proximity to the sidewall 90 even when it is not touching. This useful purpose can best be imagined if one imagines the operator holding the gun handle 30 and holding the gun so that its outlet sprays upwardly, whereby the weight of the can 40 will cause its sidewall 42 to attempt to swing in the direction of an arrow 98 and this swinging is arrested by engagement of the sidewall 42 with the portion 92 of the second clamping arm section 90.

When the parts are in an operational position, as shown in FIGURE 1, it will be seen that an upper portion of the tube and, as indicated at 100, is vertically disposed and extends straight downwardly engaging firmly against the inner side of the sidewall 42 of the can in a position directly opposite the downwardly extending second arm section 90. For this reason, if the operator should tip the gun so that it sprays downwardly, then the tendency of the can to move in the direction of an arrow 108 is resisted by engagement of the sidewall 42 against the upper portion 100 of the tube 70.

The lower end of the tube 70 is sharp, as seen at 130, and this is for the purpose of permitting the top 140 of the can to be punctured for the insertion of the tube. Such a puncture is made close to the outer wall 42 of the can so that upon insertion of the tube, the straight upper portion 100 thereof will fit so tightly against the outer sidewall 42 of the can that it will cause the outer sidewall 42 to bump out somewhat, as seen in FIGURE 1 and 150, this bump-out being slight, but extending all along the section 100 of the tube.

A small portion of the upper wall 140 of the can is cut away and shown in section at 160 in FIGURE 2 for the purpose of showing the hole 170 in the top 140 of the can made by the tube 70.

That side portion of the tube 70 along the tube section 100 which engages the can 40 can 'be referred to in the claims as a means attached to the tube 70 and disposed close to the second clamp arm section 90 for pressing against the inner side of the outer wall 42 of the can at times when the second section 90 of the clamp presses against the outer Wall of the can as it does against the head portion 200 of the outer wall of the can, as best seen in FIGURE 3, as tends to squeeze the outer Wall of the can between the second clamp arm section 90 and the tube portion 100.

A pair of downwardly pointed spears 210 are attached to the underside of the first section 60 of the clamp arm 62, as best seen at 212 in FIGURE 2, as is made visible in FIGURE 2 by breaking away a portion of a retainer wall 216, which latter is attached to the first clamp section 60 and extends downwardly therefrom between the two spaced spear means 210, which latter are disposed on opposite sides of the tube 70 and spaced a slight distance therefrom.

The underside of the retainer wall 216 is horizontal and it serves to engage the upper side of the upper wall 140 of the can firmly at times when the tube has been inserted into the can and the pressure placed on top of the gun 12. When in this position, the retainer wall 216 tends to enclose an area around the tube 70, particularly around the hole 170 so that the wall 216 cooperates with the spear means 210 which extend transversely thereto to enclose this area to contain liquid which leaks out through the hole at times.

The liquid can then be more likely to pass back into the can, either through the hole made by the tube 70, or holes made by the spears 210.

The spears 210 each have vertical wall surfaces 270 on two opposite sides thereof for maintaining frictional impingement with edges of openings 280 in the top of a container and made by the spears 210 during a downward movement of the spears through the top of the can 140 at the final stage of insertion of the tube 70. The wall surfaces 270 are not onl vertical but are also planar, with each surface in complete parallelism as in a shape providing a maximum of frictional impingement. This tends to hold the spears in the can lid for further helping to retain the can in place on the gun.

Each spear 210 also has two other surfaces 280, which latter are disposed transversely to the surfaces 270 and one of the surfaces 280 is disposed in engagement with the inner side of the side wall 42 of the can, as best seen in FIGURE 3 at 286, and adjacent the upper end of each spear 210 respectively. This tends to cause the upper part of the outer wall 42 of the can to be impinged also between adjacent edges of the spears 210 and the downwardly extending second section of the clamp arm means 62.

Those edges 280 of the spears 210 which are disposed closest to the retainer wall 216 are secured thereto at 290.

As thus described, the spray gun assembly of this invention is beleived to fulfill the objectives above set forth in providing a faster way to attach a disposable container to a spray gun in a secure and effective manner.

I claim:

1. A spray gun assembly comprising a spray gun having an inlet and an outlet means for liquid tobe sprayed and having means for forcing said liquid from said inlet to said outlet, an elongated normally downwardly extending tube means having a tube provided with an open lower end for insertion into liquid to be sprayed, annular attaching means attaching an upper end of said tube to said gun, said annular attaching means also interconnecting the interior of said tube with said inlet, a clamp arm having a first section attached to said annular attaching means and extending transversely of said tube, said clamp arm having a second section connected to said first section and extending downwardly therefrom, said second section being spaced from said tube during use with the upright outer wall of a container therebetween, means attached to said tube and a part of said tube means being disposed close to said second clamp arm section for pressing against the inner side of an outer wall of a container at times when said second section presses against the outer wall of said container to secure said container to said tube and gun, said tube having its lower end offset away from its upper end in a direction away from said second section of said clamp arm, downwardly pointed spear means attached to said annular attaching means and extending downwardly therefrom alongside said tube, said spear means having an outer edge facing and spaced from said second clamp arm section for pressing the inner side of an outer wall of a container at times when said second clamp arrn section is pressing against the outer side of the same outer wall of said container.

2. The combination of claim 1 in further combination with a container in the position described, the lower end of said tube being disposed adjacent the opposite side of said container from the clamp arm side of said container.

3. The combination of claim 1 in which said spear means is spaced from said tube.

4. The combination of claim 1 in which said spear means is specifically two spears, one on each side of said. tube.

5. The combination of claim 1 further comprising: said spear means having vertical planar wall surfaces on two opposite sides thereof for maintaining frictional impingement with the edges of openings in the top of a container made by a downward movement of said spears therethrough.

6. The combination of claim 4 in which said spears each have a portion engaging against and firmly pressing a part of the side wall of the container for further assisting in the gripping of said container secured to said gun.

7. The combination of claim 1 in further combination with a container having an upwardly protruding peripheral bead and having a top wall with a hole therethrough, said tube extending downwardly through said hole, and said container having an outer wall being pressed against as described, said spear means being specifically two spears, one on each side of said tube, a retainer Wall means attached to said first section of said clamp arm and extending downwardly between said two spear means on a side of said tube which is oppossite said second clamp arm section and disposed extending downwardy to the top of said container whereby said spears, said wall means and the upwardly protruding bead of said container together enclose an area around the said hole to contain liquid which leaks out through the hole.

References Cited UNITED STATES PATENTS ROBERT B. REEVES, Primary Examiner H. S. LANE, Assistant Examiner U.S. Cl. X.R. 222-89, 464 

